1. Field of Invention
The invention is directed to a ski rack. In particular, the invention is directed to an overhead ski rack for stowing snow skis, ski poles and ski boots.
2. Description of Related Art
Many different types of ski racks are known in the art. One such ski rack is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,797 to Egan. This ski rack mounts on a wall and includes a pair of top and bottom rails with a gap formed therebetween. Several sets of opposed retainer blocks are provided along the length of the top and bottom rails and are connected thereto through the gap. The retainer blocks have face portions that engage the edges of a ski as the ski is slid downwardly between the retainer the blocks. The ski is retained on the ski rack by the engagement of the face portions of the blocks with the edges of the ski. Also, the retainer blocks are movable toward and away from each other so as to accommodate varying widths of skis.
Another ski and ski pole stowing rack is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,694 to Wave. The ski and ski pole stowing rack fastens onto a vertical support. The ski and ski pole stowing rack has an upper and two lower members that hold two pairs of skis by placing the skis sideways along their edges in a bottom-to-bottom facing arrangement in a cylindrical slot provided by the upper member. As the skis are brought downwardly within the cylindrical slot, the rear ends of the skis are inserted into a pouch which is provided by a lower member. A stretchable elastic element that is connected to the upper member is pulled and placed over the skis to retain them in place. The upper member also includes two projecting cylindrical elements so that strapped or strapless ski poles may be hung therefrom.
Yet another conventional ski rack is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,573 to Sieloff. The ski rack is designed to hold a pair of skis on a wall. The ski rack includes a camber retainer device, a bracket device and a clamp device. The camber retainer device is mounted on the wall and is adapted to be positioned under the pair of skis at a longitudinal center point of each of the skis. The bracket device is mounted on the wall and is adapted to receive and encircle the rear ends of the pair of skis. The clamp device is mounted on the wall and is disposed in alignment with the camber retainer device and the bracket device. The clamp device is adapted to receive the front ends of the pair of skis for clamping the skis onto the wall.
Another ski rack is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,919,032 to Sinawski. The ski rack includes a horizontal ski support member and a horizontal retaining member. Each of the ski support member and the ski retaining member includes a plurality of U-shaped openings formed therein. Also, the ski rack has a locking device for locking individual pairs of skis within the rack. The ski rack may be hung from floor joists, attached to a wall or set on a floor. The ski rack also includes means to prevent marring of the skis while they are racked. The ski rack also includes hooks for hanging other equipment thereon.
None of the ski racks described above provide stowing of ski boots. Often, after snow skiing, the insides of the ski boots are wet from perspiration, melted snow or both. Thus, there is a need to stow ski boots after skiing at a place where the insides of the ski boots can be dried.